The invention relates to a print engine/controller (PEC) able to receive print data and generate and output in a format suited to what inks are available at the print head.
A range of printer types have evolved wherein an image is constructed from ink selectively applied to a page in dot format. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,710 titled xe2x80x98Self-aligned construction and manufacturing process for monolithic print headsxe2x80x99 to the inventor Kia Silverbrook there is set out an assessment of the prior art to drop on demand printers along with its particular manufacturing process.
A microelectomechanical drop on demand print head hereafter referred to as a Memjet print head has been described in co-pending United States Patent Applications filed simultaneously to the present application and hereby incorporated by cross reference
The Memjet print head is developed from print head segments that are capable of producing, for example, 1600 dpi bi-level dots of liquid ink across the full width of a page. Dots are easily produced in isolation, allowing dispersed-dot dithering to be exploited to its fullest. Color planes might be printed in perfect registration, allowing ideal dot-on-dot printing. The print head enables high-speed printing using microelectromechanical ink drop technology.
Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with the present application:
PCT/AU00/00518, PCT/AU00/00519, PCT/AU00/00520, PCT/AU00/00521, PCT/AU00/00522, PCT/AU00/00523, PCT/AU00/00524, PCT/AU00/00525, PCT/AU00/00526, PCT/AU00/00527, PCT/AU00/00528, PCT/AU00/00529, PCT/AU00/00530, PCT/AU00/00531, PCT/AU00/00532, PCT/AU00/00533, PCT/AU00/00534, PCT/AU00/00535, PCT/AU00/00536, PCT/AU00/00537, PCT/AU00/00538, PCT/AU00/00539, PCT/AU00/00540, PCT/AU00/00541, PCT/AU00/00542, PCT/AU00/00543, PCT/AU00/00544, PCT/AU00/00545, PCT/AU00/00547, PCT/AU00/00546, PCT/AU00/00554, PCT/AU00/00556, PCT/AU00/00557, PCT/AU00/00558, PCT/AU00/00559, PCT/AU00/00560, PCT/AU00/00561, PCT/AU00/00562, PCT/AU00/00563, PCT/AU00/00564, PCT/AU00/00565, PCT/AU00/00566, PCT/AU00/00567, PCT/AU00/00568, PCT/AU00/00569, PCT/AU00/00570, PCT/AU00/00571, PCT/AU00/00572, PCT/AU00/00573, PCT/AU00/00574, PCT/AU00/00575, PCT/AU00/00576, PCT/AU00/00577, PCT/AU00/00578, PCT/AU00/00579, PCT/AU00/00581, PCT/AU00/00580, PCT/AU00/00582, PCT/AU00/00587, PCT/AU00/00588, PCT/AU00/00589, PCT/AU00/00583, PCT/AU00/00593, PCT/AU00/00590, PCT/AU00/00591, PCT/AU00/00592, PCT/AU00/00584, PCT/AU00/00585, PCT/AU00/00586, PCT/AU00/00594, PCT/AU00/00595, PCT/AU00/00596, PCT/AU00/00597, PCT/AU00/00598, PCT/AU00/00516, PCT/AU00/00517, PCT/AU00/00501, PCT/AU00/502, PCT/AU00/00503, PCT/AU00/00504, PCT/AU00/00505, PCT/AU00/00506, PCT/AU00/0507, PCT/AU00/00508, PCT/AU00/00509, PCT/AU00/00510, PCT/AU00/00512, PCT/AU00/00513, PCT/AU00/00514, PCT/AU00/00515
The disclosures of these copending applications are incorporated herein by cross-reference.
A distribution system of the above kind will output page data in a particular format, providing image data in a range of image planes. These image planes may be received at printers with print heads not fitted with a corresponding number of ink channels. Some clients to the system might desire to move image planes from one ink channel to another. A print engine/controller ideally addresses these issues.
More speed and flexibility in selection of output channels at the print head depends on development of both print head and its engine/controller. The print engine/controller architecture ideally needs to be designed to push data in volume to selected ink channels in the print head at high speed.
In one form the invention resides in a print engine/controller to drive an ink drop print head comprising:
an interface at which to receive compressed page data;
decoders to decode respective types of image planes in the received compressed page data; and
a half-toner/compositor to composite image plane data;
the half-toner/compositor including:
a dot merger unit taking bits from the respective planes as inputs; and
a color mask register holding masking bits in number equal to the number of image planes;
respective input bits to the dot merger unit being ANDed with respective color mask register bits and the resultant bits Ored together to form an output bit in a channel for which there is an ink at the print head.
The dot merger unit provides a means by which to map data bits to the respective inks at a print head. A color mask register within the dot merger unit holds a pattern of bits that effect the mapping of image bits input to the dot merger unit. Image data might be delivered to a client with image planes in all of CMY and K together with data to go into tags on an output page in infrared ink. Speed might be such that a fixative needs to be used. The ideal print head then works with six ink channels. Some printers may not provide for all of CMY and K and K may need to be expressed through use of the CMY channels. It might be desired in some circumstances to put a high-resolution plane otherwise destined for the K channel into one of the color channels. These outcomes are met through what bits are loaded into the color mask register.